On May 5, 1961, Alan B. Shepard, Jr., became
America's first man in space with his suborbital flight of
the Mercury spacecraft "Freedom 7."

Within 3 weeks of Shepard's flight, President John F.
Kennedy, told Congress; "I believe this nation should
commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is
out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely
to the earth."

The Mercury 7

Alan B. Shepard, Jr.

Mercury 7 astronauts Gus Grissom, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter,
Wally Schirra and Gordon Cooper each followed Shepard with
their own Mercury missions. Donald K. "Deke" Slayton, selected
to fly MA-7 (Mercury-Atlas-7) was grounded by NASA flight surgeons
for an irregularity in his heartbeat. Deke became NASA's "Chief
Astronaut," and finally got into space "only thirteen years overdue"
with the flight of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in July, 1975. The
Mercury program taught us how to reach, work in, and return from
space.

The Gemini Program

Ed White - Space Walking

The 10 crewed Gemini flights; Gemini 3 through Gemini 12,
from 1965 through 1966, were the first space missions to
rendevous and dock with other spacecraft in orbit and to
test astronauts and hardware for up to 2 weeks in Earth
orbit. Gemini astronauts also conducted extensive EVA's
(Extra Vehicular Activities - space walks). Ed White became
the first American to walk in space from his Gemini 4
spacecraft launched June 3, 1965.

Only Gemini 3, the first crewed Gemini spacecraft, had a call sign;
"Molly Brown." Command pilot Gus Grissom, whose Mercury spacecraft
sank and was lost after splashdown in the Atlantic, jokingly named
his Gemini spacecraft in reference to the heroine of the musical
comedy "The Unsinkable Molly Brown."

The success of the Apollo space program is founded on the
lessons learned in the tragedy of Apollo 1.

* * * * * * *

APOLLO 7

Apollo 7 Launch - The Maiden Voyage

The Apollo program arose from the ashes of Apollo 1 with the
successful launch of Apollo 7 on October 11, 1968. Commander
Walter "Wally" M. Schirra, Jr., Command Module Pilot Donn F.
Eisele, and Lunar Module Pilot R. Walter Cunningham
checked out the re-engineered Apollo Command and Service Module
for the maiden crewed voyage of Apollo space program.

* * * * * * *

APOLLO 8

Apollo 8 Patch

Launched on December 21, 1968, Apollo 8 Commander
Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James A.
Lovell, Jr., and Lunar Module Pilot William A. Anders
became the first human interplanetary space explorers
when they left the bounds of Earth's gravity well and flew
their Apollo 8 spacecraft for a 10 orbit swing around the
Moon.

From the crew of Apollo 8
The crew of Apollo 8 brought back the first photograph of
the Earth as a globe in space; a Christmas gift to humanity.

* * * * * * *

APOLLO 9

Apollo 9, launched March 3, 1969, was the first flight test Saturn V/Apollo
Spacecraft in full lunar mission configuration. Apollo 9 conducted tests of
the Command Module and the Lunar Module in Earth orbit.

Command Module Pilot David R. Scott, was left alone to
fly the Command Module named "Gumdrop," while Mission Commander
James A. McDivitt, and Lunar Module Pilot
Russell L. Schweickart tested the spindly legged lunar
lander they called "Spider."

Spider

* * * * * * *

APOLLO 10

Earthrise from Apollo 10

Apollo 10, launched on May 18, 1969, was a full dress
rehearsal of the landing mission and also a reconnaisance
mission in which potential landing sites were reconnoitered.
After separating from the Command Module named "Charlie Brown"
and dropping from lunar orbit at 60 miles down to 50,000 feet,
Mission Commander Thomas P. Stafford and Lunar Module Pilot
Eugene A. Cernan barnstormed the mountains of the
moon at 3,700 mph in their Lunar Module called "Snoopy."
As they skimmed over the mountains of the Moon, Gene Cernan
called out; "Houston, this is Snoopy! We is Go and we is
down among' em, Charlie!"

At the low point in their trajectory, the crew attempted to
release their
decent stage. Immediately the spacecraft began pitching up and
down and violently yawing
left and right. "We've got some wild gyrations." Cernan
announced as he wrestled with the controls. For 8 tense seconds
the crew fought to regain control of their ship. "Hit the AGS!"
Cernan yelled to Stafford to deactivate the Abort Guidance System.
Somehow an abort system switch had been left in an incorrect
position. This caused the spacecraft to begin radar searching and
firing rockets in an attempt to find its mother ship, "Charley
Brown." The quick thinking of the skilled crew brought their ship
back under control and headed back up to a rendevous with the
Command ship and Command Module Pilot John W. Young
for a flight home to Earth. If the crew of Snoopy had not
reacted as swiftly as they had, after another 2 seconds, their
spacecraft would have locked into a dive that would have crashed
Apollo 10 on the Moon.

Membership Program
The Apollo Society is a non-profit educational and scientific
research organization dedicated to the advancement of space
exploration and the establishment of human communities beyond Earth.